Microcinema - When Clouds Clear

When Clouds Clear recounts one remote community’s radical resistance to a proposed copper mine that threatened to destroy their way of life forever. As two mining companies become increasingly brazen in their attempts to infiltrate and control the remote town of Junín in northern Ecuador, the community forms a united resistance in order to survive. Still, some citizens are wooed by promises of wealth, causing irreparable divisions between families and friends. Suddenly these once peaceful farmers find themselves thrust into a dangerous world of corruption, splintered households, murder and arson as they fight to protect their land and families.

Guest Speakers

Natalie Lowrey - National Spokesperson, Friends of the Earth Australia

Natalie has been working on environmental and social justice issues for over 10 years with a strong focus on the impact of the mining industry both nationally and internationally.

Natalie has worked as a campaigner for Friends of the Earth Australia since 2004 and is the Asia Pacific representative for Friends of the Earth International's Resisting Mining , oil and Gas program. She also works with the Mineral Policy Institute and is co-editor of ProtestBarrick.net. Campaigns have included: working with East Timorese on the Let them Stay campaign which received the United Nations’ 2003 Golden world award in recognition of its success; long-term campaigner with SaveLakeCowal.org, working with Wiradjuri Traditional Owners opposing the largest gold miner, Barrick Gold on their lands; and forming an ongoing International Solidarity campaign with communities affected by gold mining that now covers four continents and over 14 countries.

Natalie is currently the Uranium Free Campaigner in Western Australia with the Conservation Council of Western Australia.

Uncle Neville 'Chappy' Williams, Traditional Owner
Mooka/Kalara United Families within the Wiradjuri Nation, Lake Cowal

Simone Francis
Simone is currently in the post production stages for Ikiam, a documentary about oil exploitation and the changing of cultures throughout Ecuador's Amazon. Simone is making this documentary as part of a project called Nomadic Hands, which helps to change the world through creative communication and media.

About Lake Cowal
Since the early 1990s, the campaign to stop the gold mine at Lake Cowal has focused on the cultural and ecological significance of the area. There have been two Commissions of Inquiry and ongoing court cases over the legitimacy of the gold mine and clear breaches of environmental safety standards.

Wiradjuri Traditional Owners, environmentalists, scientists, students and concerned communities around Australia are continuing to campaign to stop the open-cut, cyanide leach gold mine.

Facilitator:
Alejandra Canales
Alejandra is a Chilean-born performance artist and independent filmmaker working in performance and film; concerned with the social and political dimensions of artistic practice. Based in Sydney since 1998, she has undertaken further studies in film and video production and has worked in several roles for independent films. Currently she is a recipient of a scholarship to complete a Doctorate of Creative Arts at University of Wester Sydney where she is developing the documentary project Solid_Liquid_Gas_H20 supported also with a grant from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust.